


Floral Patterns

by Beatles_and_Bellarke



Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-11-23 08:28:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20889131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beatles_and_Bellarke/pseuds/Beatles_and_Bellarke
Summary: Frodo keeps receiving these mysterious bouquets of flowers, each with a specific meaning.  He's not given a note or any other identifying mark.  But he feels whoever is sending them is destined for him.





	Floral Patterns

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Evanaissante](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evanaissante/gifts).

The first flowers arrived on a Monday like any other. Frodo was beat and headed across the campus green to his dorm. The day had been long and draining. He was ready to nap and write in his journal before attempting homework. 25 minutes and several Hozier songs later, he made it to his driveway. Turning off the car, he grabbed his backpack.

On the doorstep was a beautiful bouquet of flowers. They were all the same kind of flowers: Azaleas. Frodo picked up the flowers and walked into the dorm, utterly perplexed. The first roommate he ran into was his cousin Merry.

“Hey, Mer. Did you see who left these?” Merry looked up from his engineering textbook.

“I’ve been inside all day. Have you checked if there’s a note or something?” Frodo gave his cousin an exasperated look.

“Do you think I’d be asking if I found a note??”

“Fair enough. Well who do you think left it?” Frodo shrugged.

“That creepy guy across the hall, Gollum I think his name is, seems to have a huge crush on me.”

“He doesn’t seem the flower-leaving type, though.” Merry always was Captain Obvious.

“You are correct there.” Frodo conceded. “I’m fresh out of ideas then. Where’s everyone else?”

“Sam went up to the grocery store to buy us some things. Pip’s at the gym.”

“Cool. Well, I’m off to go put these in some water. I have a meeting with the musical director at 6 so I’ll be leaving in a few hours again.”

Merry gave him a wave of confirmation that he’d heard and went back to his reading. Frodo scrounged around for a vase. He settled for an old Lemonade Pitcher. Going to his laptop, Frodo looked up what Azaleas meant. The flower was used mostly for softness. It didn’t give Frodo much to work with but he appreciated the thought. He wasn’t even sure the flowers were for him. His first thought was Pippin to Merry but Pip definitely would have left an identifying mark. Frodo would have guessed that a lovely lady was interested in him if he wasn’t so much of a big homo. Knowing this, it had to be a male then.

Someone was trying to tell Frodo how they felt about him. He didn’t have that many friends since he tended to keep to himself a lot of the time. Merry, Pippin and Sam were the closest friends he had. But it wasn’t either of the other two since they had each other and Sam was most definitely straight and into women. So that ruled him out. Frodo pondered only another minute more and let it go for the rest of the week. He took care of the flower and made sure it stayed healthy. But he didn’t think too much about who could have sent it for the rest of the week. Not until the next Monday when another bouquet was left on his doorstep. Frodo shook his head as he entered the apartment.

“Alright, the joke’s over.” Frodo announced, walking into the empty living room with an armful of Sunflowers.

“What jo-“ Pippin wandered into the living room, stopping short when he saw Frodo struggling with a huge bouquet of sunflowers. He couldn’t help himself. Pippin let a laugh slip, earning him a glare from Frodo. “Lover boy, you really need to bring this boy home.”

“I don’t even know who the boy is.” Frodo shot back. “I haven’t had any notes in either of these bouquets.”

“Well I’m sure there will be a sign in one of them eventually.” Pippin said. Frodo hoped he was right. He was concerned that he’d never find out who his secret admirer was.

Frodo got into his room and looked up the meaning of Sunflower. The most appropriate for his situation was adoration/loyalty. So it was someone who knew him and admired him. Subconsciously his mind drifted to Sam again. But as quick as the thought came it left. Sam was straight. Besides even if there was a slim chance it was Sam, Frodo didn’t want to risk a friendship this long lasting. Losing Sam was something he just couldn’t do. With that thought, Frodo closed the tab and worked on his homework.

Throughout the week, he kept his eyes peeled for anyone who acted suspicious when he was nearby. But there was no sign of anything weird. Sam, Pippin and Merry were also acting totally normal which was never a good sign but it did check them off the suspects list. Frodo felt something growing and squirming in his stomach when he so much as glanced at Sam. It was the worst feeling in the world and he didn’t want it anymore. He wished the feeling could be lodged from his system. It would do no one any good if he held on.

The weekend gave him time to do a bit of investigating. But he didn’t find much. He did learn that the flower shop was about 5 minutes from the school so it had to be someone local. This didn’t narrow it down much until the store owner said something near damning, “The only thing I can tell you about who keeps coming in to buy my flowers is that they’re quite lovely. They were shy about it at first. But if you are who is receiving this adoration everyday then you are very lucky.” Frodo thanked the cashier and hopped off the phone, heart hammering in his ears.

Like clockwork, the next Monday there was a third bouquet. Frodo didn’t need to look up the meaning of roses. He was tentative to accept them but he went inside with the flowers anyway. He ran almost headlong into none other than Samwise Gamgee.

“Sam?? Y-you’re home early.” Frodo regained his composure. Sam smiled.

“Yeah. I had an errand to run.” Sam went about what he’d been doing before Frodo walked in.

“Who do you think is leaving me these flowers? Each week they become more and more obvious that it’s someone with a crush. But I still can’t figure out who.” Frodo didn’t notice how hard and incredulously Sam was staring at him.

“Are you really serious right now, Fro?” Frodo met his eyes. It was then he _knew_. He couldn’t believe he had doubted his gut the first time.

“But Sam, what about Rosie?”

“What about her? We broke up months ago…when-“ Then he stopped himself.

“When what, Sam?” Frodo prompted, knowing the answer but wanting to hear it said anyway.

“When I fell in love with you.” Frodo’s intake of breath was audible. He had to back away to breathe again. He’d started having his suspicions every time he caught Sam taking care of the flowers when he was home with Frodo. But he’d said it was just Sam being who he always was. He’d denied these feelings for so long, the act was ingrained in him.

“Well, lucky for you I’m in love with you too.” Frodo closed the distance with a chaste kiss and a big hug. “And thank you for the beautiful flowers. I really appreciate it.” Sam smiled.

“So now that we know the truth, how will we break the news to Pippin and Merry?”

“Oh they already know. They helped me with this.” Sam grinned, a sight that sent a thrill through Frodo warming him from head to foot.

“Of course they did. They’re terrible liars.”

“Well they must be pretty good because it took you 3 bouquets to figure out it was me.” Frodo sheepishly nodded.

“What now?” Sam glanced at him, a gentle smile tugging at his lips.

“We take it one step at a time.” Frodo held out his hand and Sam clasped it.


End file.
